Midterms, finals, project deadlines, food and housing expenses and worries about job prospects can all add up and become a bit overwhelming. A new report says that’s more the case today than ever.

The annual survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors shows that over the past decade the number of students seeking help for anxiety at college counseling centers has risen dramatically.

In 2008, anxiety was most reported concern among college and university students seeking help at a counseling center, but it was only slightly ahead of depression, 36.7 percent vs. 37 percent. Since that time both have risen, but anxiety has far outpaced depression.

The latest survey was conducted between September 2015 and August 2016. It found that more than half (50.6 percent) of students at counseling centers reported problems with anxiety, a 37 percent rise over 2008’s low. Reports of depression have risen to 41.2 percent.

Third on the list of reported problems are relationship issues, at 34.4 percent. That figure has remained fairly steady in the past 10 years.

The survey provides no analysis of the results.

Proposed Cuts

If anxiety for students was at an all-time high last year, students may find reasons to be ever more anxious since the survey was taken, particularly those that rely on government help with tuition.

The Trump Administration has proposed holding Pell grant funds steady in the coming year — the grants are aimed at assisting low-income students. But it has also asked for $3.9 billion to be cut from the program’s $10.6 billion surplus, money that would normally be carried into the next fiscal year and funding that some had hoped could be used to help students with summer school costs.

Last week, the administration asked Congress to cut an additional $1.3 billion from the fund before the current fiscal year ends.

The cut is part of a plan to cut $3 billion to the Department of Education in the current year, something it’s unclear that Congress would agree to. President Donald Trump hopes to reduce next year’s education budget by $9.2 billion or 13.5 percent.

In contrast to that, the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, spent time this week championing the push to get more female students into science, technology, education and math programs. She and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos were at a screening of “Hidden Figures” at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to encourage young women to think about STEM fields.

Critics pointed out that Trump’s budget proposals cut funding from many of the agencies that support such efforts, such as NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education itself.

Philosophically Speaking

Here’s something to think about:

UC Riverside’s department of philosophy was recently recognized as the top department in the world for work cited by other philosophers in their papers. Frequency of citation is often used as a gauge of the quality of scientific work. The QS World University Rankings included 200 philosophy departments from 37 different countries.

Which raises the question: When philosophers win a prize, do they question its existence?

Mark Muckenfuss has been a reporter since 1981. He worked at various publications including the San Bernardino Sun before coming to the Press Enterprise in 1999. He covers higher education, military affairs and, when the ground shakes, earthquakes.